Pan Am - Pilot Review

Pan Am, ABC's high-flying new period drama soars and provides viewers with escapist fun.

The new series, set in 1963 follows the lives of two pilots and four stewardesses working on the iconic Pan American Airways during the Jet Age. Set in a time when air travel was at the peak of everyone's interest, Pan Am is a stylistically beautiful and entertaining show. The musical score is very period appropriate and scene fitting, adding to the quality of the one-hour pilot episode. Christina Ricci is the most recognizable name of the cast, but other notable stars is Mike Vogel as new pilot Dean, and Kelli Garner's character Kate provides plenty of intrigue in her espionage storyline.

The episode opens to a missing stewardess, Bridget, who just so happens to be the girlfriend of new captain Dean. As the new Majestic Clipper takes off on its maiden voyage from New York City to London's Heathrow Airport, viewers are giving flashbacks and glimpses into the lives of each character. First there is Laura Cameron(Margot Robbie), the sister of Kate who leaves her groom at the altar to travel the world much to her sister's dismay. There is Ted(Michael Mosley), Dean's co-pilot on the Majestic, and Collette(Karine Vanasse) who has been having an affair with one of her passengers.

The flashbacks are well-executed, used in a clever way to make the long flight across the Atlantic Ocean less claustrophobic and boring. And as viewers get more to the back-story of each of the characters, there is plenty of gossip, plenty of romantic entanglements, and loads of juicy secrets to keep audiences at the edge of their seats.

Pan Am was not only eye candy for those who cannot get enough of Mad Men's 60s era feel, but it was also a new show with a first-class story to tell, and a damn good script to go along with it.

Pan Am airs Sundays at 10/9c on ABC.